The Elegance of the Semicolon

So there are two ways to use a semicolon that make sense to me.

The first use of the semicolon is one some writers don't feel is necessary. It goes like this:

Sometimes, two sentences feel too closely linked to really be two sentences. For example,

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles love pizza. They hate anchovies on that pizza.

If you don't want the solid brick wall of the period between those thoughts, then you may instead want a wall with a door allowing the "sentences" to interact and become technically one sentence. So you replace the period with a semicolon:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles love pizza; they hate anchovies on that pizza.

As I mentioned, there are writers who don't believe in this semicolon; they say a period fits here just fine. Other writers adore this semicolon. The great news? You don't have to listen to any of them. You get to decide for yourself what works best.

The second use of the semicolon is so helpful anyone who disagrees with it probably shouldn't be allowed to have opinions, anyway.

In a list that has internal commas, semicolons help readers make sense of the information. For example,

Seven is an important number to many Americans: There are seven days in a week, a cycle that determines our work and social life, there are seven deadly sins, Mickey Mantle, the slugger, wore number seven, and in 1962 his Yankees won the World Series in seven games, there are seven Harry Potter books, each one more mature than the last, and there will eventually be seven books in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, as well.

That gets difficult to read, right? All the commas muddle the list so you don't know what describes what. Now try it with semicolons:

Seven is an important number to many Americans: There are seven days in a week, a cycle that determines our work and social life; there are seven deadly sins; Mickey Mantle, the slugger, wore number seven, and in 1962 his Yankees won the World Series in seven games; there are seven Harry Potter books, each one more mature than the last; and there will eventually be seven books in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, as well.

See how elegant a semicolon is here? It helps us make sense of what we read, right? So there you have it: I've just helped you write more clearly. You're welcome.